Figure 2-2

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Figure 2-2

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Figure 2-2

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Figure 2-1

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Submitted by:
Broadreach Planning & Design

In conjunction with

Lamoureux & Dickinson Consulting Engineers, Inc
Heritage Landscapes LLC.

April 21, 2011

A. OVERVIEW

The Addison County Regional Planning Commission (ACRPC) is assisting the Town of Lincoln with a pedestrian and bicycle feasibility study that is examining the most appropriate method of enhancing non-motorized travel between the center of Lincoln village and the Lincoln Community School and the local recreational fields. The project study area extends along both sides of East River Road for several hundred feet between the center of Lincoln and the Lincoln Town Forest. Figure 2-1 shows the approximate extent of the study area.

B. LAND USE

LAND USE TYPES
The Study Area is a mix of small commercial and residential uses, with a greater concentration of the commercial uses in the Village Center. There are also public land uses distributed throughout the Study Area. Figure 2-2 shows the general distribution of the various types of land uses in the Study Area.

DESTINATIONS
Several of the commercial and public land uses are obvious destinations for bicycle and pedestrian travel within the Study Area. It is also assumed that all of the residential uses are potential origin and/or destination points for bicyclists and pedestrians. Figure 2-2 also highlights these destination points in the Study Area.

C. TRANSPORTATION FACILITIES

OVERVIEW
While the Study Area is centered on East River Road, there are several other roads within the Study Area that could be relevant to the improvement of walking and bicycling conditions. Figure 2-2 identifies the roadways in the Study Area.

ROADWAY FUNCTIONAL CLASSIFICATIONS
East River Road serves as the main road (Town Highway 1) through the village of Lincoln from Gove Hill Road to South Lincoln Road which then becomes Town Highway 1. At this point, East River Road becomes Lincoln Gap Road (Town Highway 2). Both East River Road and South Lincoln Road are Class 2 major collectors.

ROADWAY JURISDICTION
Both East River Road and South Lincoln Road are owned and maintained by the Town of Lincoln.

TRAFFIC VOLUMES
Automatic traffic recorder (ATR) counts maintained by the Vermont Agency of Transportation (VTrans) indicate that the average annual daily traffic (AADT) on West River Road at the Bristol/ Lincoln Town Line was 2,100 vehicles per day in 2007. On East River Road, 0.3 miles west of Bridge 19 (the Truchon Bridge), the AADT in 2007 was 1,300 vehicles per day. In 2007 the village, 7.76% of the daily traffic was composed of truck traffic with 6.55 % being medium size trucks and 1.21% heavy trucks.

Pavement on South Lincoln Road is in poor condition and has an average width of 22 feet with faded double yellow centerlines.

Gove Hill Road is a 22 foot wide paved road as it crosses over the Bridge 48 over the New Haven River. This bridge was reconstructed in 2009 at which time a 5 foot wide concrete sidewalk was constructed along the east side of the bridge.

Quaker Street has an average pavement width of 22 feet with a faded double yellow centerline.

The first 25 feet of Clark Road was paved as part of the bride reconstruction project in 2009. The remaining 0.17 miles of Clark Road is a gravel road approximately 15 feet wide.

POSTED SPEED LIMIT
The posted speed limit on East River Road is 30 miles per hour through the project area. The speed limit remains 30 mph through the village. South Lincoln Road is posted at 35 mph.

GRADES
East River Road and South Lincoln Road are both relatively flat as they travel through Lincoln Village following along and crossing over the New Haven River. There are steep grades from the roadways down to the river in many sections throughout the project area.

Very few accidents have been reported to VTrans along East River Road and South Lincoln Road. No crashes were reported from 2006 to 2009. One single vehicle crash was reported in 2005 at the intersection of South Lincoln Road and East River Road. The driver was going too fast for conditions and one injury was reported. Another crash at the same location was reported in 2000 with no injuries, due to a failure to yield the right-of-way.

D. UTILITIES

All of the roadways in the project area have utility poles with overhead lines located along them. In many cases the utility poles switch from one side of the road to the other. The utility poles are generally located at the outer edges of the roadway right-of-ways when they are located in the right-of-way.

There is no community sewer or water systems in the Lincoln.

There is a septic system leach field close to the road directly south of the Truchon Bridge on the west side of East River Road.

E. NATURAL RESOURCES

WATERCOURSES
The New Haven River runs along first the west side and then the east side of East River Road heading south from the village area. The road crosses the River via the Truchon Bridge southeast of the Village and another bridge just before the South Lincoln Road intersection. There is an unnamed stream that crosses under East River Road through a box culvert located approximately 750 feet northwest of the Truchon Bridge. There is also an intermittent stream that crosses under East River Road just to the northwest of the entrance to the Community School. Another smaller intermittent stream passes under East River Road via a small culvert approximately 50 feet south of the Truchon Bridge.

A small intermittent stream passes under South Lincoln Road via a metal culvert just south of the intersection with East River Road.

TOPOGRAPHY
The Study Area runs along the valley of the New Haven River. East River Road runs along the sides of the river at approximately the same elevation with just a few rises and dips. The land drops off significantly towards the River along its banks, which are often close to the edge of East River Road. The land also rises significantly to the east of the Road in the proximity of the School.

WETLANDS
There are very few wetlands mapped in the study area. Figure 2-3 shows the location of the few mapped wetlands in the study area. The largest wetland areas lie directly along the New Haven River. Other smaller wetland areas are located on the east side of South Lincoln Road.

WATERBODIES
There are no significant water bodies within the Study Area.

FLOODPLAINS
The floodplain for the New Haven River lies on either side of the river as it runs northwest through the Study Area. Figure 2-3 shows the approximate extent of the floodplain in the study area as represented by the latest GIS data. A more accurate description of the New Haven Floodplain is provided by the limits of the River Overlay Zoning District, as depicted on Figure 2-2. Most of the Village Center lies within the New Haven River floodplain.

FLORA
The study area is a mix of agricultural fields and forests outside of the areas close into the Village Center. The photographic base of Figure 2-3 shows the location of these fields and forest. The developed areas in the village include a variety of vegetation, most of it planted at some point in time as a component of the development process.

There are no important vegetative habitat areas identified within the study area.

There are several larger trees close to the side of the East River Road that provide shade and help to define the character of the roadway. Removal of these trees should be done only after careful consideration of the impacts on adjacent properties and nature of the roadway.

FAUNA
The Study Area contains a collection of agricultural/rural Vermont fauna, including deer, bobcats, smaller mammals, turkeys, song birds, hawks, owls, ducks, geese, coyotes, foxes, frogs, toads, and snakes. The relatively large forested areas in and close to the Study Area make it likely that other animal species that require large undisturbed tracts of forest land habitat could also be found within the Study Area.

There are no important wildlife habitat areas identified by the State within the study area.

ENDANGERED SPECIES
The Vermont Nongame and Natural Heritage Program had not identified rare, threatened or endangered species within the study area.

F. CULTURAL RESOURCES

HISTORIC
There are several historic resources lining East River Road that could potentially be impacted by significant changes to the existing roadway, due to their close proximity to the edge of the existing roadway pavement. Attachment 1 includes more information on which specific structures need to be considered for potential impacts if pavement widening is one of the potential alternatives.

ARCHEOLOGICAL
The Archeological Resource Analysis is still underway. Attachment 2 will include a full copy of the analysis when it is completed.

OPEN SPACE AND PUBLIC LANDS
The Town or School District owns several public open spaces within the study area, including the Lincoln Elementary School and the Town Forest. Other public spaces are owned by private not-for-profit corporations with a public mission, including the Town recreation fields on Gove Hill Road and the Library and adjacent open land. Each of these is a destination for pedestrians and bicyclists within the Study Area. There are also several other areas along the New Haven River that are used for swimming and are considered to be public destinations within the study area, as Figure 2-2 shows.

AGRICULTURAL LANDS
There are several significant parcels of agricultural land in active use within the Study Area.

G. PLANNING DOCUMENTS

TOWN PLANS
Numerous portions of the Lincoln Town Plan, adopted by the Lincoln Selectboard, June 1, 2010 are relevant to this study, either as conditions upon the development of alternatives, or as direct support for the goals of the project. Attachment 3 high lights those portions of the Town Plan that are important to this study.

The Transportation section of the plan includes one goal: to “increase pedestrian and bicycle safety”. The strategies for implementing this goal include:

• Establishing additional parking for village commerce and carpooling
  
  
• Studying the feasibility of expanding village sidewalks/bike paths to connect the library, ballfields, school, Town Clerk’s office and Village Districts.
  
  
• Limiting accesses and driveways when possible, sharing with existing access points when feasible.
  
  
• Incorporating sidewalks and/or bikeways into road and right-of-way improvements.
  
  
• Applying for State and Federal funds available for these road, sidewalk, and bike path improvements.

TOWN ZONING
The Lincoln Zoning Regulations are generally silent on potential improvements for bicycling and walking, although there are certain provisions that could be interpreted as limiting such facilities in certain situations. Much of the Study Area along East River Road lies either in a Flood Hazard Area or the River Overlay Area. Development or improvements in the Flood Hazard Area that require fill from outside of the Area or transportation facilities would be conditional uses in Flood Hazard Areas. Recreational trails are allowed in the Flood Hazard Area, as long as they do not require outside fill.

Bridges are the only things that are allowed with 25 feet of a river in the River Overlay Area.

STATE PLANS
The 2008 VTrans Pedestrian and Bicycle Policy Plan includes goals and objectives that directly support the upgrading of bicycling and walking connections between the Village Center and the Community School, including:

Goals

• Cultural Environment. Enhance the human scale and livability of Vermont’s communities by improving opportunities for pedestrian and bicycle mobility and access in and between towns, downtowns, villages and rural landscapes.
  
  
• Health. Improve the health of Vermonters and reduce health care costs by making it easier, safer and more convenient for citizens to be more physically active by walking and bicycling on a regular basis.
  
• Transportation Choice. Enhance pedestrian and bicycle transportation options in Vermont so that citizens, regardless of location socioeconomic status, or health can choose a seamless, convenient and comfortable mode that meets their needs. Promote a transportation network, including roadways, shared use paths, rail trails, rails with trails, and accessible pedestrian facilities, which allow pedestrians and bicyclists to reach their destinations throughout the State or to connect to other modes of travel.

Objectives

• Objective 8. Work with citizens, municipalities, regional planning organizations, and other State agencies to develop, plan, and implement pedestrian and bicycle plans, projects, and programs.
  
• Objective 12. Provide a seamless transportation network for pedestrians and bicyclists by improving linkages between walking, bicycling and other modes of transportation

SPECIAL REPORTS OR PROJECTS

• Truchon Bridge
  VHB is working with VTrans to design a replacement for the “Truchon” Bridge on East River Road. This work is in its early stages and no plans have yet been developed.
  
  
• Intersection Study
  Summit Engineering prepared a study for the Town on improveing pedestrian, bicyclist and motor vehicle safety in and around the center of the village. The study focused on the intersection of Quacker Street, East and West River Roads and Gove Hill Road. The final recommendation of the plan called for the redevelopment of the intersection into a modified T intersection with new stops signs, sidewalks and crosswalks. The recommendation was endorsed by the Town Selectboard and the ACRPC, but no improvements to the intersection have yet been completed.